OEM & Aftermarket Parts From The Same Supplier

[The Critic]

https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/...ts-from-same-manufacturer-not-identical/ I have read many comments on this site (and other sites) about vendors supplying identical parts to OE customers and to the aftermarket. This is not always true in my experience and this article somewhat validates my experience. For example, I used to order Akebono ProACT pads for Honda's and would find them to be sized smaller and perform differently than the Akebono pads that I purchase from the Honda dealer. Both products ultimately offer similar performance but the attributes are not identical. This article goes into more detail about the finer nuances between building a product for the aftermarket vs for an OEM and I have included some quotes below:

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Asked if Denso ever sold aftermarket parts that exceeded manufactuer specifications, Williams called it "extremely, extremely rare."

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Denso would analyze the shape, form, fit and function of a part and wonder how to "‘back that off'" to meet a wider market, Williams said. Williams gave the hypothetical example of an OEM platform with a 41 mm condensor. Denso might decide to make a 40 mm aftermarket condensor able to fit vehicles with 39-42 mm condensors for a requirement like "'85 percent of OE cooling.'"

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Mendoza summarized Williams' message as that a distributor could take comfort in aftermarket parts made by an OEM supplier, for "they have the experience." Their parts can have a higher quality than other aftermarket parts manufacturers, Mendoza said. Denso produces OEM parts and an "excellent" aftermarket part, Mendoza said. Nevertheless, "there's a very clear difference," as the discussion July 25 demonstrated. At the end of the day, the aftermarket part was "still an aftermarket part," he said. Mendoza said he didn't see a situation where automakers would set a particular standard for aftermarket parts or help manufacturers create them. The only way to obtain Toyota safety specifications for sure was to buy a Toyota part, he said.

 

[Trav]

Then again you can sometimes get parts from the OE supplier that have the OE brand name ground off. This is the actual OE part, this is more common with some manufacturers than others eg Lemforder does this quite a bit with Euro parts. Others like BWD for example will just rebox the actual OE part without any unbranding if it is a low selling part.

 

[buddylpal]

I've bought numerous BWD parts throughout the years that were the exact OEM part with the OEM part number stamped right on the part. Some house brand part store parts are also OEM. I recently bought Duralast brand evap purge valve for a 2015 Impala 3.6 and it was the exact same BOSCH part as the original I took off. Same part numbers and everything. Denso seems to manufacture their parts rather than rebox OEM parts. I bought a coil pack for a GM 2.2 ecotec a few years ago and I purchased a Denso because they were the OEM supplier. Identically the old OEM part and the new Denso looked exactly the same but the new Denso didn't have the OEM part number engraved on it so I do believe that Denso has different quality for the OEM vs the aftermarket.

 

[Hall]

A parts manufacturer can make OEM parts and also sell those under their own name (or private label them for others). In those cases, it makes no sense to make it slightly different or cheaper or whatever. The tooling, material, etc already exist. The example Trav gives where an aftermarket part looks 100% identical to the OEM part that was just removed except it has grinding marks on it (where the OEM p/n was). Now that same manufacturer may 'copy' other parts that they don't make as OEM units and make them more universal. These are two different scenarios.

 

[Silk]

Then again you have aftermarket parts which have improved on the faults of the OE product.

 

[spk2000]

Originally Posted by The Critic

https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/...ts-from-same-manufacturer-not-identical/ I have read many comments on this site (and other sites) about vendors supplying identical parts to OE customers and to the aftermarket. This is not always true in my experience and this article somewhat validates my experience. For example, I used to order Akebono ProACT pads for Honda's and would find them to be sized smaller and perform differently than the Akebono pads that I purchase from the Honda dealer. Both products ultimately offer similar performance but the attributes are not identical. This article goes into more detail about the finer nuances between building a product for the aftermarket vs for an OEM and I have included some quotes below:

Quote

Asked if Denso ever sold aftermarket parts that exceeded manufactuer specifications, Williams called it "extremely, extremely rare."

Quote

Denso would analyze the shape, form, fit and function of a part and wonder how to "‘back that off'" to meet a wider market, Williams said. Williams gave the hypothetical example of an OEM platform with a 41 mm condensor. Denso might decide to make a 40 mm aftermarket condensor able to fit vehicles with 39-42 mm condensors for a requirement like "'85 percent of OE cooling.'"

Quote

Mendoza summarized Williams' message as that a distributor could take comfort in aftermarket parts made by an OEM supplier, for "they have the experience." Their parts can have a higher quality than other aftermarket parts manufacturers, Mendoza said. Denso produces OEM parts and an "excellent" aftermarket part, Mendoza said. Nevertheless, "there's a very clear difference," as the discussion July 25 demonstrated. At the end of the day, the aftermarket part was "still an aftermarket part," he said. Mendoza said he didn't see a situation where automakers would set a particular standard for aftermarket parts or help manufacturers create them. The only way to obtain Toyota safety specifications for sure was to buy a Toyota part, he said.

I used to work for Akebono and we made 3 different sets of brake pads. OE that went on brand new cars. OE were built to the highest quality standard. Service pads were made very similar sometimes exact and sold to dealerships but often were released by quality personnel as good enough for the dealer. Then there was a different part of the plant that made aftermarket. These were often sold to NAPA and had a completely different formula in material and components. 99% of the aftermarket pads used the same material and quality was rarely rejected for anything. OE pads were custom designed formulas made in small batches and finely tuned for sound and performance.

 

[Gebo]

Originally Posted by spk2000

Originally Posted by The Critic

https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/...ts-from-same-manufacturer-not-identical/ I have read many comments on this site (and other sites) about vendors supplying identical parts to OE customers and to the aftermarket. This is not always true in my experience and this article somewhat validates my experience. For example, I used to order Akebono ProACT pads for Honda's and would find them to be sized smaller and perform differently than the Akebono pads that I purchase from the Honda dealer. Both products ultimately offer similar performance but the attributes are not identical. This article goes into more detail about the finer nuances between building a product for the aftermarket vs for an OEM and I have included some quotes below:

Quote

Asked if Denso ever sold aftermarket parts that exceeded manufactuer specifications, Williams called it "extremely, extremely rare."

Quote

Denso would analyze the shape, form, fit and function of a part and wonder how to "‘back that off'" to meet a wider market, Williams said. Williams gave the hypothetical example of an OEM platform with a 41 mm condensor. Denso might decide to make a 40 mm aftermarket condensor able to fit vehicles with 39-42 mm condensors for a requirement like "'85 percent of OE cooling.'"

Quote

Mendoza summarized Williams' message as that a distributor could take comfort in aftermarket parts made by an OEM supplier, for "they have the experience." Their parts can have a higher quality than other aftermarket parts manufacturers, Mendoza said. Denso produces OEM parts and an "excellent" aftermarket part, Mendoza said. Nevertheless, "there's a very clear difference," as the discussion July 25 demonstrated. At the end of the day, the aftermarket part was "still an aftermarket part," he said. Mendoza said he didn't see a situation where automakers would set a particular standard for aftermarket parts or help manufacturers create them. The only way to obtain Toyota safety specifications for sure was to buy a Toyota part, he said.

I used to work for Akebono and we made 3 different sets of brake pads. OE that went on brand new cars. OE were built to the highest quality standard. Service pads were made very similar sometimes exact and sold to dealerships but often were released by quality personnel as good enough for the dealer. Then there was a different part of the plant that made aftermarket. These were often sold to NAPA and had a completely different formula in material and components. 99% of the aftermarket pads used the same material and quality was rarely rejected for anything. OE pads were custom designed formulas made in small batches and finely tuned for sound and performance.

I agree. To remind us, Toyota dealers have 2 grades of Toyota brake pads. A cheap one and the OEM one. That says a lot. This doesn't really apply to this post but it may prove to be interesting. A friend of mine is a Yokohama tire grader here in VA. All of the best tires go in containers back go Japan. We accept all the lower quality ones. The Japanese will not accept tires below a certain grading. Go figure...